Meta to Boost Pakistan’s Internet Speed with New Undersea Cable
Simon Milner, Meta’s Vice President of Public Policy for the Asia Pacific region, recently spoke with Talha Ahad from The Centrum Media (TCM) about several topics. They covered how Meta is supporting innovation and responsible digital use among young people in Pakistan, the creator economy, artificial intelligence (AI), and Meta’s plans to help Pakistani creators make money.
One major topic was Meta’s plan to improve internet connectivity in Pakistan. Meta is installing a new 45,000-kilometer undersea cable that will connect Karachi to 33 other countries in Africa and the Middle East. This project is expected to be finished by 2025.
Simon Milner explained that this new cable will greatly enhance internet speed and reliability in Pakistan. It will improve bandwidth, reduce delays, and make overall connectivity better. This upgrade will benefit Pakistani users and content creators by providing faster and more dependable access to Meta’s services, like Facebook, Instagram, and the new Meta AI.
Milner stressed that this project could have a big positive impact on Pakistan’s digital landscape, especially for creators, as long as services can operate freely in the country.
In the podcast, Simon Milner talked about Meta’s commitment to boosting artificial intelligence (AI) innovation in Pakistan through the Llama AI initiative. He mentioned that Pakistan is among the first countries to benefit from this initiative, which is designed to support local developers and advance technology.
One recent success of this initiative was an AI competition held in partnership with NITB, Ignite, and the Ministry of IT. The competition drew over 100 participants and featured innovative solutions, such as a literacy tool for people who cannot read and an AI system to help reduce court case backlogs.
The winning team from this competition will travel to Singapore to compete for a $100,000 grant. They will join teams from 12 other Asian countries. Milner said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” highlighting that Meta is dedicated to helping grow Pakistan’s tech industry and that the country has the potential to make a big impact in the global technology field.
Simon Milner talked about Meta’s plans with the Pakistani government to use artificial intelligence (AI) to boost the economy and improve digital safety, especially for young people.
Milner praised the government’s enthusiastic approach, mentioning how excited Minister Shaza is about AI and its potential to make economic processes more efficient and create new job opportunities. He said that all the meetings with the government have been very positive and engaged.
Milner also shared that Meta is making good progress in setting up monetization for Pakistani content creators. This feature, which allows creators to earn money from their digital content, is something that many in Pakistan’s growing digital community have been eagerly waiting for.
Milner acknowledged that there have been delays due to legal and banking challenges. Integrating local banking rules with Meta’s global payment systems has been complex. However, he reassured that Meta is working hard to overcome these issues. “We are making progress and are hopeful that we will be able to launch monetization soon,” Milner said.
This new development will create additional ways for content creators in Pakistan to earn money, similar to how creators in other regions make money from their content. Milner emphasized that this is a work in progress, but he is optimistic that it will lead to positive results soon, highlighting its importance for Pakistan’s digital creator economy.
